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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26074375">Countdown</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildz907/pseuds/wildz907'>wildz907</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Friendship, Gen, Season/Series 02, Twelve Shots of Summer Challenge</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:07:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>575</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26074375</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildz907/pseuds/wildz907</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Will tries to prepare himself the best that he can for what is coming. Set near the end of Season Two. [Twelve Shots of Summer: Seventh Soul].</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Graham &amp; Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Twelve Shots of Summer</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Countdown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for Week Ten of Twelve Shots of Summer: Seventh Soul. Prompts: "Your Worst Nightmare" and "The Bigger Monster".</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We’re just the same.”</p>
<p>Hannibal had made that statement before, and Will had echoed it. He told himself that he was just playing the part that was required of him in order to catch Hannibal. He only wished he could really believe that.</p>
<p>He always caught killers by seeing from their perspective. As much as he could have trouble communicating with people, he had no problems at all with empathizing. It was a gift he never wanted, but since he had it, he knew he needed to use it to help. </p>
<p>How many times could he imagine himself as a monster before he truly became one? </p>
<p>Will knew what he would have to become to finally catch Hannibal Lecter. The man hadn’t gotten this far in life by being sloppy. He was intelligent and meticulous and charming. Nobody who met him would ever imagine what he was capable of. At least, not until it was too late.</p>
<p>Was Will one of the lucky ones? Most people who Hannibal took this much of an interest in ended up dead. Will was still alive (though for how much longer, he couldn’t say) and that was something. He’d had everything taken from him though. He’d lost all control of his life thanks to Dr. Lecter. He had hit rock bottom, and maybe that was why he felt no fear. If he did nothing, he would only lose more and more. How much longer would the people in his life be safe? Hannibal knew that Jack suspected him. He likely knew that Alana was starting to doubt him as well. He’d already taken Abigail away from Will. Will had no other choice but to act.</p>
<p>He just hoped that this would all be worth it in the end. He was doing a great job of convincing Hannibal that he was embracing his own darkness. He knew it wasn’t all just an act. He really did understand Hannibal, just as he understood every other killer he had come across. He wished that he didn’t, but he did. Though with Hannibal, there was a little more to it than that.</p>
<p>While he could empathize with anyone and had done so to catch other killers, Will knew it went a little deeper than that with Hannibal. They truly had a connection, as much as Will tried to pretend they didn’t. It was easy enough to pretend back when he focused on feeling only hatred for the other man. But that didn’t last. Even after everything Hannibal had done, he was still Will’s friend. Hannibal was the only person who truly saw Will, and Will was the only person who could truly understand and accept Hannibal. </p>
<p>Will’s thoughts were all over the place. He was playing two roles: the person who wanted to stop Hannibal, and the person who wanted to help him. Which one was really him? He feared that Hannibal would get away. He also feared that he wouldn’t. He wasn’t sure which of those was his worst nightmare.</p>
<p>Which one of them was more at fault? Hannibal, for all the evil he had committed? Or Will, for still wanting to be around him anyway? </p>
<p>This was all coming to a close, very soon. Will couldn’t tell how this story was going to end. He wasn’t even sure how he wanted it to end. And at the end of it, which one of them would end up being the bigger monster?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>After weeks of not being able to write, I started watching Hannibal and then this happened. I wanted to try to explore what Will was thinking near the end of season two. Jack thinks Will's lying to Hannibal, Hannibal thinks Will's lying to Jack, and in reality the person Will is really lying to is himself.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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